1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club, and more particularly, a golf putter with sighting apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for golf putter aid apparatuses have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 1,327,171, Issued on Jan. 6, 1920, to Ruggles teaches a golf tool provided with a head having a striking face, a reflector positioned above the face and a ball and socket connection between the reflector and the head providing for universal adjustment of the reflector in all planes relative to the striking surface.
A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 2,898,109, Issued on Aug. 4, 1959, to Williams teaches a golf putter apparatus comprising, in combination with a golf putter including a shaft with a blade extending laterally from an end thereof, the blade having a face lying in a substantially vertical plane when the putter is normally held in sighting position by a player, a support, clamping means on the support for securing it to the putter shaft above the blade thereof, an inclined mirror carried by the support and extending longitudinally downwardly at an angle to the vertical plane and transversely parallel to the blade face, the mirror and the putter blade having marks thereof positioned where they can be seen and to align vertically when the putter is in its correct sighting position, and when the putter is moved to make the mirror and blade marks coincide with each other and with the image in the mirror of a golf hole spaced from the putter, the blade face is at right angles to a straight line extending through the hole.
A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,698, Issued on Feb. 23, 1965, to Schoeffler et al. teaches a golf putter embodying a shaft provided at the lower end thereof with a head having a forward ball driving surface, and means cooperable with the rear surface of the head enabling the user to analyze and familiarize himself with the particular putting situation at hand prior to making the contemplated putt, the means embodying a downwardly inclined forwardly facing mirror having graduations on its viewable face, the graduations defining a range finding scale, the graduations embodying a principal graduation in alignment with a rear center point of the rear surface of the putter head, the mirror and all of its marginal edges being spaced rearwardly from the rear surface and serving to afford the user a panoramic view, whereby he may see the flag on the green and the position of the ball relative thereto, and consequently locate and orient the head of the club relative to the golf ball, and means mounting a median portion of the lower marginal edge only of the mirror on the rearward surface, the means bridging the space between the lower edge and rear surface and being spaced inwardly from the respective transverse ends of the head and mirror, respectively, and embodying a manually adjustable ball and socket joint, whereby the mirror may be universally adjusted relative to the putter head.
A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,160, Issued on Oct. 11, 1977, to Salata teaches a golf putting device for practicing putting a golf ball toward a hole by a player with a golf putter club having a putter shaft and a putter face. The invention comprises an alignment member being mounted to the putter shaft to extend in front of and being substantially normal to the plane of the putter face. A reflector element is mounted to be behind the plane of the putter face. The relative position of the alignment member and the reflector element enables the player to observe the alignment member being simultaneously superimposed over the ball and over the reflection of the hole in the reflector element to establish the putter face to be normal to a line extending between the golf ball and the hole. The forward extension of the alignment member is superimposed over the golf ball during substantially all of the putting stroke enabling the player to practice maintaining the putter face normal to the line extending between the golf ball and the hole.
A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,472, Issued on Jul. 22, 1986, to O'Flanagan teaches a sighting device for a golf putter comprises a mounting frame housing an eye aligning mirror having a horizontally disposed reflective surface and a ball and target aligning mirror having a reflective surface extending at an angle of approximately 135.degree. to the putting face of the putter blade. The frame includes a front flange which extends downwardly over the putting face of the blade. The device is releasably mounted on the blade by a deformable bonding agent which fills a chamber defined by the rear face of the flange, the striking face of the putter and spaced-apart ribs extending rearwardly of the flange to engage against the striking face. A pair of lugs extend sidewardly of the frame and each is formed with a through hole in which an adjusting screw for adjusting the position of the device on the putter blade are threadingly engaged. The device is used for aligning the putting face of the blade square to a target path between a ball and target while aligning the eye of the player over the target path. The device is adapted for releasably mounting on any putter blade without alteration of the blade so that the putter may be restored to its original condition after the device is removed for use in competitive play under the rules of golf.
A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,477, Issued on Oct. 27, 1987, to Solomon teaches a golf putter for putting a ball along a path of desired golf ball travel that includes a head having a planar striking surface. A horizontal extension from the head positions the shaft in a vertical plane ½ inch to 2 inches rearward of the head. The extension provides the connecting link between the shaft and the rear surface of the head and locates the center of gravity of the head between the shaft and the ball to be stroked when the head is in a striking position relative to the ball.
A SEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,158, Issued on Dec. 6, 1988, to Chiesa teaches a light-weight sighting or aiming device for showing the line of the path of a golf ball to be impacted by a golf club which has a base head adapted to be releasably secured to the shaft of the club at a selected distance above the club head, a rod projecting forwardly from the base head to be aligned parallel with the club head, a pointer selectively mounted at different positions along the length of the rod normal to the axis of the rod and threads on the rod to extend and retract the rod relative to the base head so that the pointer will be positioned over the sweet spot of the hitting face when the golfer addresses the ball. The component parts of the device are preferably light-weight plastics material with the base head having an end spaced for gripping the shaft and with the rod member frictionally threaded for a substantial distance in the base head member. The preferred rod has a plurality of transverse holes therethrough spaced along its length to selectively snugly receive the pointer. The device only weighs about ½ ounce and requires no alteration of the club so that it will have no effect on the feel of the club.
AN EIGHTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,866, Issued on Sep. 4, 1990, to Bang teaches a golf putter comprising a putting shaft, a putting head having a front face and a rear face, an aperture extending through the putting head from the front face to the rear face thereof, a supporting plate containing a mirror mounted to the rear face of the putting head and extending at an angle from the rear face, the mirror being mounted to coincide with the aperture disposed in the putting head, whereby the golfer, from a putting position can view both the ball and the hole by looking at the surface of the mirror.
A NINTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,690, Issued on Oct. 1, 1991, to Sharp teaches a golf club alignment device for showing a target area of a golf ball to be impacted by a golf club that has a base head with a center mark calibrated to a center line of a securely mounted reflective plate having a mirror quality finish angled back from the corresponding striking surface of the club head, a centering scale, silhouetted at the base portion of the reflective plate, made up of short lines, 0.125 inch spaced increment deviations on either side of the center line in progressive numerical order to allow the golfer to compensate for contours of putting surfaces, a grip reasonably secured to a shaft, of the club head having at a selected distance above the club head to the shaft, a centering standard projecting horizontally forward and parallel to the club head, an alignment mark existing near out board end of the centering standard, calibrated to the center mark of the club head, also calibrated to center line of the reflective plate, in conjunction with the reflection of alignment mark of the centering standard, thus subsequently positioning the corresponding striking surface of club head perpendicular to the reflection of the target or achieving a misaligned putt by using an offset of the centering scale right or left of center line for compensating for contoured putting surfaces of the putt being negotiated.
A TENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,129, Issued on Dec. 10, 1991, to Wilson teaches a golf putting visual aid practice and sighting instrument characterized by its removable attachment to a conventional putter wherein a reflective device is articulably connected rearwardly of a putter head and blade. The reflective device mounts a line of sight marker which may be shifted transversely at the option of the golfer to perfect the relative position of the putter club head to the green and to the target hole.
AN ELEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,691, Issued on Nov. 24, 1992, to Cook teaches a laser golf club putter assembly including a laser beam assembly mounted on a basic putter club assembly to provide singular or parallel laser beams extended outwardly from a ball contact face section on a club head member. The laser beam assembly includes 1) a power supply having battery members and/or a solar panel member; and 2) a switch control assembly having a manual slide switch or an automatic motion switch member operable in an upright usage position of the basic putter club assembly to energize the laser beam assembly. A second embodiment is a handle mount laser beam assembly mounted within a handle assembly and having means thereon to automatically energize the system with a motion switch member and use a solar panel as a power source. A third embodiment of the laser golf club putter assembly is an add-on mount type having an add-on housing member with an add-on laser beam assembly contained therein operable to be connected to any available basic putter club assembly. The parallel laser beams are mounted in respective inner and outer heel portions of the club head member.
A TWELFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,197, Issued on Jun. 6, 2000, to Curtis teaches a device for teaching correct putting that can be attached to the shaft of a putter. A mirror is pivotally attached to an arm which extends behind and is parallel to the face of the putter such that the center of gravity for the mirror is between the pivot point and the face of the putter. The mirror is oriented at such an angle that a golf ball and a target cup can be viewed simultaneously by a golfer using a putter to which the device has been attached. Rotation of the mirror caused by the relative position of the pivot point and the center of gravity for the mirror will, under the influence of gravity, maintain this desired visual image in the mirror throughout the putting stroke. A straight line is placed on the reflecting surface of said mirror in such an orientation that the plane which contains the visible line and which is perpendicular to the reflecting surface of said mirror is perpendicular to the face of the putter and aligned with the desired point of impact on the face of the putter. By aligning the straight line in the middle of both the golf ball and the target cup, a golfer using the device will be assured that the face of the putter is perpendicular to the imaginary line running between the golf ball and the target cup; and maintaining such alignment throughout the stroke of the putter, a golfer using the device will be certain that the golfer's stroke is directly toward the target cup.
A THIRTEENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,988, Issued on Jul. 18, 2000, to Winslow teaches a putter alignment device and includes a mounting frame for engaging a putter and for aligning the device relative to the putter face. A mirror frame having a mirror supported thereby is coupled pivotally to the mounting frame for aligning the putter relative to a target. A securing arrangement is adapted to engage the mounting frame at a portion thereof, extend behind the putter, and engage another portion of the mounting frame to attach removably the putter alignment device on the putter. Inventive sight members facilitate positioning of the eyes of the golfer relative to the target line as a part of the alignment method.
A FOURTEENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,403, Issued on Sep. 10, 2002, to Schmidt teaches an improved method of swinging a putter which includes an improved putter and a swinging stance of specific features. The elements of the swinging method include gripping the putter in the traditional fashion, securing at least one hand or a butt end of the hand grip against some part of the lower body, moving the putter head back through an arcuate path, and retracing the arcuate path to strike the golf ball. The improved putter includes a putter head attached to one end of the shaft, and hand grip attached to the other end of the shaft. In a second embodiment, the shaft extends from the putter head at an angle of between 35 to 85 degrees from the vertical axis.
A FIFTEENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,482,100, Issued on Nov. 19, 2002, to Bacon teaches a golf putter having a reflective face and alignment guide including a head portion having a forward face and a rearward face. The head portion has an upper end and a lower end. The upper end has a collar extending upwardly therefrom for receiving a golf shaft therein. The forward face has an upper section and a lower section. The lower section is vertically oriented and essentially perpendicular to the lower end. The upper section is angularly disposed and essentially less than forty-five degrees with respect to the lower section. The upper section has a mirror secured thereto. An alignment tab is secured to and extends rearwardly from the upper end of the head portion. The alignment tab has a central alignment recess formed therein. The recess has a forward end disposed above the mirror secured to the upper section of the head portion.
It is apparent now that numerous innovations for golf putter aid apparatuses have been provided in the prior art that adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.